Starry Knight
by LinuxKnight
Summary: SG-1 and Knight Rider 2008 . Michael and KITT are recruited to help capture Ba'al clones on Earth.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Stargate: SG1 nor Knight Rider (2008). This is my first published fan-fiction._

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

General Hank Landry sat at his desk at Stargate Command, reviewing the morning briefings and emails. He was deeply concerned about the latest developments with the Ba'al clones that had infiltrated Earth. It was bad enough having to deal with one Ba'al, after he had taken over the fleet and resources from Anubis.

Now that the Replicators had leveled the playing field somewhat, Ba'al had decided on a new tactic, and created clones of himself to wreak havoc across the galaxy, each one with his sly devious nature, arrogance, and craving for power. General Landry considered it a top priority to recover these Ba'al clones on Earth before they could do too much damage.

As he was going over the briefings on the locations of the Ba'al clones, his phone rang.

"General you have a call from Home World Command," came the voice of Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman. "Fine Walter, go ahead and put it through."

"This is Landry."

"General, how are things?" asked his superior, General Jack O'Neill of Home World Command.

"General, good to hear from you. I was just going over some of the mission briefs on capturing these Ba'al clones," replied Landry.

"Lost some of your Ba'als have you?" replied O'Neill, tongue firmly in cheek.

"Yes, they can be quite slippery, if you're not careful," Landry said, knowing how Jack liked to use humor even in the most dire of circumstances.

"On that note, I have something for you. We have decided to enlist some local help, as it were, in recovering some of the Ba'al clones, since there are a lot of them, and you have to keep your SG teams running their normal off-world operations as well as capturing the Ba'als. So, we are going to bring in a private team. They are called the Knight Foundation. They are a top notch group, worked with the FBI and NSA before, and they have top level clearance. They will still need to sign the standard NDA, blah blah, you know the drill. They do have an interesting ace up their sleeve, that could come in handy, especially since these Ba'al clones are stuck on Earth."

"Knight Foundation? I think we have dealt with them before. Dr. Graiman if I recall, he is a top scientist in the field of artificial intelligence?"

"The same. However Dr. Charles Graiman is unfortunately no longer with us, his daughter, Dr. Sarah Graiman, is in charge. You will be speaking with her, and her operative Michael Knight. I've sent the pertinent info to Walter."

There was a knock on Landry's door.

"Come in." Landry answered.

Walter Harriman entered, bearing several file folders.

"Sir, the files on the Knight Foundation, sent by General O'Neill."

"Oh, thank you Walter, right on time."

Walter handed the big stack of file folders to Landry.

O'Neill, overhearing this on the phone, responded, "Good old Walter, he has what you need even before you know you need it. Man, I miss having him around. These guys and gals in Washington are alright but they never quite get it just right."

"You miss the chair, don't you Jack?" Landry said, with a smile.

"Oh yes, of course I do. However they can do comfortable chairs here in D.C., that is one perk I won't ever regret. Well, I will let you get to your meetings. Bring in Sarah Graiman and Michael Knight, give them the brief tour, any equipment they might need, and get them out there after some of those Ba'als. Good luck General."

"Thank you General." Landry hung up the phone, and started to review the reports on the Knight Foundation and its personnel.

Dr. Sarah Graiman sat at her desk, in her office at Knight Foundation headquarters. It is housed in a large former airship hangar somewhere in southern California. It was somewhat more sparse now that they were running things on their own, without the FBI and other government agencies working directly with them. It also made some things a little more difficult.

However Sarah's father, Dr. Charles Graiman, now deceased, had put his faith in her and her team, and knew that she would carry on the mission that was started by Wilton Knight so many years ago.

Zoe and Billy, their technicians and mechanics, were at their computers in the main office area, while Michael Knight, their field operative was in his quarters resting. His car, also his partner in the field, the artificially intelligent Knight Industries Three Thousand, was parked in its usual spot on the diagnostic turntable.

While Zoe was running some diagnostics on KITT's systems, pouring over data from their most recent mission, an incoming video conference notification appeared on her computer.

She checked the info on it, and noticed it was from someone high up in the US Air Force, and it was directed to Sarah.

"Sarah, there's and incoming video call for you, some bigwig from the Air Force."

"OK thanks, transfer it in here," replied Sarah.

As Zoe transferred the video call Sarah quickly checked to make sure her video camera on top of her monitor was centered, and smoothed her blouse self-consciously, before clicking on the button to accept the video call.

On the screen appeared a distinguished if somewhat relaxed looking military man, wearing what looked like a more casual fatigues type uniform, with 2 stars on the shoulders making him a Major General. He smiled jovially at her, and introduced himself.

"Good afternoon, my name is General Jack O'Neill, United States Air Force. You are Dr. Sarah Graiman, I presume?"

"Yes General O'Neill, I am. I must admit I find it interesting such a high ranking officer would call, in most of our dealings with the government, we speak to the staff first."

Jack smiled and waved his hand at her in a playful manner, "Oh sure most of the higher-ups would rather have people swim through layers of bureaucratic nonsense, but I myself prefer the more direct approach. Especially when dealing with matters this important. Oh and please, call me Jack."

"Of course, Gen- er I mean, Jack. How can we help you today?" Sarah responded.

"Well you see, we have a mission for you. From what I understand your firm has worked with the government many times before, mostly the FBI, but also the military. This mission, at the core, is not too different from a few others you have done, essentially you need to catch a couple bad guys, alive. However there are some particulars about this case that are, shall we say, a bit different."

"Different? How so?" Sarah asked.

"I can't discuss those pesky particulars over video chat, so therefore you will be contacted shortly by my point-man General Hank Landry. He will arrange a meeting with you, and if you accept the mission, provide support. Let me say this, if you do this, it will be well worth it, and your country will thank you."

"Well Jack, this certainly does sound interesting, but it also sounds a bit unusual compared to the other government contracts we have done. This also doesn't sound like typical Air Force business, if you don't mind my saying."

Jack looked down briefly and smiled, then responded, "Yes, it is not typical Air Force business, I suppose. I am actually the Director for the Homeworld Security department, and this matter we are bringing you in on falls under my jurisdiction."

Sarah considered this for a moment, then caught the difference in what he said.

"Excuse me, Jack, but did you just say Home-WORLD Security?"

"Yes, yes I did. I can't tell you more really, until you meet with General Landry. He will explain everything. Let me just finish by saying we would really appreciate the help your firm could provide. We wouldn't be bringing this to firms like yours unless it was important, and we need this done quickly. Expect a call from General Landry soon."

Sarah was hooked now, but it seemed apparent she would not be able to get more information from General O'Neill, so she responded, "OK, we will speak with General Landry then. Thanks for bringing this to us, Jack. Goodbye."

"Alright, bye bye now."

General O'Neill disconnected the video chat. Sarah stared at the computer screen some more, thinking about what he had said. She decided that whatever this mysterious mission was, it was well worth at least hearing what this General Landry had to say.

Sarah was about to call Michael in the private quarters area, when another incoming video chat request appeared, also bearing originating information from the US Air Force.

She clicked on the button again to start the video chat.

This time on the screen appeared a more strict, down-to-business looking man, also a Major General with 2 stars on each shoulder, though he was wearing the more formal uniform she was used to seeing higher ranked officers wear, complete with the insignia and awards rack.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Graiman. I am General Hank Landry of the SGC. I take it that General O'Neill has already been in contact with you?"

"Yes, General he has, and in fact my curiosity is admittedly peaked. We are very interested in hearing what you have to say about this mission you need our help with," Sarah replied.

"Good, I am glad to hear it. We will make arrangements for you, and your operative Michael Knight, to be transported here for the mission briefing. We will require you to sign a standard Non-Disclosure Agreement, and I must remind you that everything relating to this mission, and my command, is classified top-secret. We have already checked to make sure both you and your team's clearances are up to date, and they are. I cannot stress enough how important it is to maintain the secrecy of this operation."

Sarah nodded to the General and replied, "I understand General, we have worked with government agencies before, and we always make certain to observe the established security protocols."

"Alright, in that case, we will dispatch a plane to pick you up and bring you here. Since it would obviously be too difficult to bring your AI controlled vehicle along, we will provide a secure audio and video feed to make sure it has all the relevant mission data as well," said Landry.

"Thank you General, we look forward to meeting with you then."

"See you soon, and be sure to keep an open mind."

Sarah looked at him with a quizzical expression briefly, then smiled.

"OK, goodbye."

Sarah closed out the chat program, thinking to herself, 'What have I gotten myself into now?'

**End of Chapter One**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

A military transport aircraft landed on the airfield just outside the Knight Foundation headquarters hangar. Michael and Sarah had already packed their supplies in preparation to leave.

KITT stated, "Michael, this new mission sounds very interesting. However, it would seem there is a lot more to this than we have heard so far. I cannot find a Department of Homeworld Security listed in any military database, and I have top secret clearance. It is a bit puzzling."

Michael crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah KITT, it does sound a bit 'cloak and dagger' to me, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem, we've done the cloak and dagger thing before, right?"

"Yes, Michael, we have. By the way, do you believe in the existence of extra-terrestrial life? There is a lot of information available on the Internet about people who have been visited, or even abducted, by so-called aliens, yet any government documentation is usually very vague. With such a vast expanse of space, the odds of there being intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy are actually good."

Sarah and Michael looked at each other for a moment, unsure how to explain to KITT about the multitude of conspiracy theories and plain old fiction purported by people who believe they had encountered aliens.

Zoe spoke up, "KITT, you can't believe everything you read. There are a ton of wackos out there who will tell you they were abducted by aliens, when in reality they just got drunk and hypnotized by some flashing lights from a passing airplane or something. There are no big scary aliens out to get us." She motioned with her hands in front of her as if casting a spell trying to ward off scary thoughts.

Billy looked to Zoe, then to KITT. "Oh come on, KITT is right, it is simply a matter of statistics. It is also quite arrogant, I think, to believe that we are alone in this huge universe."

Zoe laughed and looked over at Billy. "Sure Billy, sure, whatever you say."

"Whatever," Billy scoffed, and he swiveled back to his computer.

Sarah and Michael turned towards the outside door just as the buzzer sounded. Michael opened it and noted two officers from the U.S. Air Force standing outside.

"Dr. Graiman, Mr. Knight, I am Lieutenant-Colonel Sanders, and this here is Major Greene, U.S. Air Force. We are here to take you to your briefing with General Landry in Colorado."

Michael tried his best to hide a smirk. "Yes, thank you, Colonel Sanders, let's get going. So, do you guys get good chicken in the Air Force?"

Sarah giggled, Zoe laughed yet tried to compose herself quickly, and Billy looked to them for a moment in confusion before he snapped his fingers and quickly turned back to his screen, stifling a chuckle.

Lt. Colonel Sanders gave Michael a somewhat dour expression. "Oh yes, ha ha, I have never heard that one before. Please stop. My sides hurt. Now come on, wiseguy, don't want to keep the good General waiting."

Michael and Sarah both waved to their team, left with the officers, and boarded the transport aircraft.

After they had gone, KITT asked, "Billy, I do not understand. I know that Michael was in the Army, and they tend to have a friendly rivalry with the other branches of the military, but why would the Air Force have better chicken?"

Billy chuckled again. "Ah yes, KITT. Try looking up Kentucky Fried Chicken and who founded it."

KITT was silent a moment as he accessed data. "Oh I see, Colonel Sanders was the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Michael was therefore making a joke based on Lt. Colonel Sanders' name in relation to the fast food chicken restaurant chain. Very clever, Michael."

Michael still had his earwig communication device in his ear, and responded to KITT. "Yeah KITT, I got a million of them. See you soon."

"See you soon, Michael."

The flight from the Knight Foundation in California, to Colorado Springs took around two hours. During that time, Michael chatted with the two officers, sometimes speaking about his time in the Army, other times speaking about more general topics such as sports. Meanwhile, Sarah worked on her laptop computer. When they landed in Colorado, they were met at the airport by a military-issue sedan, and driven by a young Corporal to Cheyenne Mountain complex. They were admitted through the security gate after showing their ID. When Sarah saw the sign above the entrance tunnel, she nodded toward it.

"Hey, Cheyenne Mountain. Isn't this where NORAD is based?"

Corporal Anderson nodded briefly. "Yes ma'am, however where we are going is beneath NORAD."

He did not say anything further, so Sarah resumed simply looking out the windows as they entered the tunnel and drove deeper into the mountain. They parked in the underground parking lot, and the Corporal escorted them through the underground entrance, past another security checkpoint with hand print and retina scanners, finally into a bunker with many maze-like passages. He led them through the base and up to an office door.

"General Landry is here. Just a moment."

Anderson knocked on the door. After hearing a brief "come in," he opened it, stepped in and announced, "Sir, we have Dr. Graiman and Mr. Knight here to see you."

General Landry looked up from his paperwork on his desk. "Ah yes, good, please come in. Thank you, Anderson."

"Yes, sir." Anderson left.

Michael and Sarah looked around briefly, then sat down in the chairs facing General Landry's desk.  
>Landry shook hands with them before taking his seat.<p>

"Dr. Graiman, Mr. Knight, thank you for coming," he began.

Sarah responded, "Thank you for inviting us, General. And please just call me Sarah."

Michael added, "And Mike."

"Very well, Sarah and Mike. You can call me General Landry, or just General. I know that General O'Neill doesn't stand on formalities so much, but I do. We will be giving you a full briefing in a few minutes, but I wanted to meet you privately first." He gestured to his desk, where two folders bearing the SGC logo sat. "First order of business, would you please review and sign the NDAs? We must have these before we can continue."

"Of course," Sarah replied.

She picked up the folders, handing one to Michael. They both read through the documents, signed them, and handed the folders back to General Landry.

"Michael," KITT spoke up from a video-audio feed sitting on the table. "Do I need to sign an NDA as well?"

"Nah, KITT, I'll vouch for you," Mike chuckled, but then he caught sight of the stern-eyed General. "Uh... is that okay, General, sir?"

Landry looked at him a second longer, then gave a small shrug. "I suppose asking an AI to sign a waiver is impractical. Now let's get down to brass tacks. We are not alone in this universe. There are other sentient races out there, many of them. Some of them are hostile, some are friendly. This operation here is all centered on an alien device called the Stargate. We found it back in 1928, in Egypt."

Landry looked at both of them, but they just kept looking back at him, listening intently. He continued.

"About 10 years ago, our scientists were finally able to discover how it works, and we began using this device to travel to other worlds. You will get a more thorough explanation in the briefing, but suffice it to say, it opens up a whole lot of possibilities for us. As well as problems. That is why we have brought you here. One of these hostile alien races is the Goa'uld, a group of symbiotic life forms that attach themselves to a host body and take it over. They were a major power player in this galaxy for a long time. Due to our efforts, and help from some friendly alien allies, we have managed to whittle them down. However, there is one Goa'uld who decided to start causing problems here on Earth. His name is Ba'al."

"Ba'al," KITT chimed in. "A Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning _master_ or _lord_, used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor. Most commonly, it was the title for Hadad, Semitic god of rain, thunder, fertility and agriculture, called the lord over the assembly of gods on the holy mount of Heaven. However, Biblical uses of the name Ba'al refer to any number of local spirit-deities worshipped as cult images, each called a _ba'al_ and regarded in the Hebrew Bible as _false gods_."

"So is this an alien or a god?" Mike asked wryly.

Landry explained curtly, "They posed as deities in Earth's past in order to gain followers and trust. Not only is Ba'al here on Earth again, but he has made clones of himself. We need you to help capture some of them."

Landry waited a moment and looked at them both again.

Sarah spoke first. "So, you need our help to capture hostile aliens? This sounds to me more like your line of work. We certainly have no experience capturing aliens!"

Landry smiled briefly. "Well, I would not think you have experience capturing aliens, but you do have experience capturing bad guys, and from your files your team is very good at it. When you boil it down, Ba'al is just another bad guy. Sure he is an alien, but in a human body. He has access to superior technology, but so do we. Although this is normally, as you say, our line of work, we need some help since we have to keep up with our normal missions. Since these clones are here on Earth, it makes sense to bring in some... local help."

Mike considered all of this, and finally he spoke. "General, how many of these clones are we dealing with? Also, what kind of strength do they have without their superior technology?"

"Good questions, Mike. Unfortunately, for the first one, we don't have an exact answer as of yet. We do, however, know of two clones on the west coast that we want you to bring in. One is in the vicinity of Los Angeles, California, the other one is in Portland, Oregon. As for their strength, the symbiote does give them formidable strength, but they are not invulnerable."

Mike hummed thoughtfully with his fingers to his chin. "Capture bad guys, strong but not invincible, only two of them with known locations... leave out the alien crap and it's like any other mission."

"Indeed, Michael," KITT added in. "And may I add an 'I told you so' regarding the high probability of life existing elsewhere in the universe?"

Mike gave a sigh and rolled his eyes. "No, KITT, you may not."

Sarah looked from Mike back to Landry. "Alright, General, this sounds like something our team can handle. What exactly do we need to do?"

"Well, the next step of course is the full briefing. After that we will loan you some equipment, including specialized non-lethal weapons and secure communications gear. Then we will send you on your way. So if you will follow me please to our briefing room, we will get started."

Landry put the two folders with the signed NDAs into his IN box pile on his desk and rose from his seat. He led Mike and Sarah out of his office and into the larger room next door, the briefing room. It had a large wooden conference table with chairs, TV screens, and to one side a very large metal door which appeared to cover a window of sorts, even though they were underground.

Landry took the seat at the head of the table, and gestured for Mike and Sarah to sit in the chairs along the side. As they were getting settled, they were joined in the room by a man in a green casual style uniform, wearing glasses.

"I hope I am not late."

"Ah good, Dr. Jackson, you are right on time. Sarah, Mike, this is Dr. Daniel Jackson, one of the scientists who helped bring about this operation, and a member of our lead expeditionary team, SG-1."

Daniel Jackson smiled and shook hands with Sarah and Mike. "I was told there would be three."

"Greetings," KITT said over his speaker. "I am Knight Industries Three Thousand, or just KITT. Forgive me for not shaking your hand, Doctor Daniel Jackson."

"An AI is the third," Landry explained.

"Fascinating! Well then..." Daniel looked briefly to Landry, who gave him a nod, and the archaeologist raised one hand with a presentation clicker. With it he turned down the room lights, and turned on one of the TV screens. The screen showed a spinning 3D logo, with the lettering SGC.

"Dr. Graiman, Mr. Knight, KITT, welcome to Stargate 101," Daniel began with an amiable tone, like some university professor. "Everything I am about to tell you is classified top secret. As General Landry no doubt mentioned to you already, we are not alone in the universe. In fact, not only are there other alien species out there, there are many settlements of humans, descended from our ancestors who were taken to other planets. Being an archaeologist, this is quite fascinating to me, but our time here is short, so I will cut to the chase."

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and looked pointedly at Landry again. Landry nodded, and with a push of a button, Daniel gestured to the now opening metal door, which slid up into the ceiling, revealing a window and at what was beyond it.

"May I introduce you to the Stargate. As Jack would say, cue applause," Daniel said, chuckling softly to himself.

Mike and Sarah got up from their seats and went closer to the now revealed window, to stare at the large enclosed room below. In the center of the room was the main attraction, a giant vertical ring shaped object, the Stargate itself. While they stared at the sight in wonder, KITT's voice called out.

"May I see this Stargate as well?"

"Ah, sorry buddy," Mike said, and he brought the video-audio device over to the window. "Do you have a good view?"

"Yes, thank you, Michael."

Daniel continued. "The Stargate was originally discovered in Egypt in 1928. It was studied for decades. Eventually we figured out how to use it, and use it we did. We have since visited many worlds, and even established bases on some of them. Now then, on to the nitty gritty, how this thing works."

He clicked his device again, and the TV changed to show a video of the Stargate, its central ring with different symbols spinning around. The ring appeared to stop at certain points, and each time it did, the chevron at the top clunked downward and then up, and another chevron along the side lit up. It continued in this manner, with the ring spinning in the opposite direction after each stop, until seven chevrons were lit. The center of the ring then lit up with a brilliant blue-white light, with a large swirling form of energy appearing to flow outward from it, then a moment later, the energy collapsed back toward the center. The center of the ring was then filled with a shimmering energy, as if it was a vertical pool of luminous water.

"This sequence here is what it looks like when the gate is dialed and activated. The big swirl you saw is known as the unstable vortex, or in technical terms, the kawoosh."

Sarah smiled at that nickname and laughed. "Kawoosh? Let me guess, named by one of your astrophysicists?"

Daniel smirked and nodded. "My colleague Dr. Sam Carter. Lieutenant Colonel Sam Carter. So at any rate, the kawoosh is what happens when the connection is formed, and once it is stabilized, what you see is called the event horizon, also known as the puddle, for obvious reasons. The connection between Stargates is called a wormhole. It is a temporary path over vast distances of space that allows near instantaneous travel. The sending gate converts your matter to energy, which is sent at great speed through the wormhole, and the receiving gate then converts the energy back to matter. As far as the traveller is concerned the trip is over about as quickly as you can walk two steps. In reality it can take several seconds, sometimes a minute or more."

As Daniel explained the mechanics of gate travel, he clicked his device and the TV screen showed 3D graphical representations of two gates, a wormhole connecting them, and small figures going through one, converted to small blobs of energy, being whisked down the wormhole, and appearing on the other side whole again.

Mike and Sarah were both watching the video, with an occasional glance at the real Stargate only a few meters away in the next room.

"Does it hurt, going through that thing?" asked Mike.

"Yes well, there used to be a side effect of extreme cold temperatures when going through, but that was resolved early on, and now there are no unusual effects. It feels a little strange, but once you get used to it, there is nothing to it really."

Sarah looked from the TV screen back to Daniel. "So how many of these things are there?"

Daniel looked down briefly before answering. "Actually, we don't know how many total there are, but we do know there are many, the ones we know about are over a hundred. They were built many thousands of years ago by a race we simply call the Ancients. They were very similar to us, originally. At some point they managed to evolve to such an advanced stage, they were able to shed their mortal bodies and exist as pure energy. The technology they left behind was found and used by another race, the Goa'uld."

Daniel clicked his device again, and the TV showed a picture of a dark-skinned man in very elaborate gold clothing, standing in front of what looked to be a vast army of soldiers.

"Meet our... friend, Apophis." As he spoke the word _friend_he gestured with his fingers to make air quotes. "Apophis was one of the top dogs among the Goa'uld. He was also the first Goa'uld we encountered. We kicked his slimy butt. Although believe me, it was not easy."

Mike smiled, then asked, "It looks like he has a bunch of grunts with him. Who are those guys?"

Daniel answered, "The Goa'uld almost always have their armies of Jaffa with them. The Jaffa are a humanoid race, specially engineered to be strong and fast, and they have an abdominal pouch which carries the larval Goa'uld symbiotes. This gives them a great deal of strength and long life."

Sarah asked, "So the Goa'uld themselves are actually the symbiotes, they have two types of symbiosis—with a host body, and with an... incubator body—which in both cases makes the host stronger: does that about sum it up?"

Daniel looked to Sarah. "Yeah, more or less. The Goa'uld have basically portrayed themselves as gods, and they have borrowed the different gods from different mythologies throughout our history. To name a few, the former number one was Ra, with Apophis, Heru'ur, Horus, and Seth as lieutenants, and so on."

KITT spoke up. "Like Ba'al of the Semitic religion."

"Precisely. However, separate a Goa'uld from his or her technological advantage, and they are not all powerful. They are strong, yes, but they are not invincible or immortal."

Daniel clicked his device, and the screen changed to show another man in elaborate clothing, fair skinned, with dark hair and a goatee.

"Now here we have the reason you are here. This is Ba'al. He is one of the few remaining of the Goa'uld System Lords, which were sort of the Mafia dons of the empire. Thanks to us," he gestured around the room, indicating the SGC, "and some help from some friends, we have all but dismantled their empire."

Mike studied Ba'al's picture. "So this guy was able to clone himself, and his clones aren't out dominating other worlds, they are running around here on Earth?"

Daniel looked at him seriously. "Basically, yes. His clones on Earth won't have access to the same level of technology as your run of the mill System Lord, though they may have some of it with them. They may have a small number of their Jaffa warriors. What's more likely is that they will have a small army of regular human security guards. The main technological advantage they are likely to have, and you need to watch out for, will be their weapons."

He clicked the control device again, and the screen changed to show multiple views of a long staff shaped device, with a large arrow-shaped head and bulbous attachment at the bottom.

Mike gave a low whistle. "Okay, so are they going to smack us around with this freakish looking pimp cane?" he asked, tongue only half in cheek.

Daniel responded, "This 'pimp cane,' as you call it, is what we call simply a staff weapon. The arrowhead at the top opens up, and it fires a powerful energy blast that can kill most humanoid targets with one shot."

He clicked his device, and the screen showed a video, with numerous Jaffa warriors in cover positions in a forest, holding staff weapons, firing them off into the distance at an unseen enemy. Also in the scene were several hits from the enemies weapons, some of them taking out the Jaffa in the scene, some hitting the ground or trees around them, all with devastating effect.

Mike and Sarah both watched, all joking gone from their faces.

"That appears to be an effective _pimp cane_, Michael," said KITT.

Mike's throat felt a little dry at the scene of carnage. "Yeah..."

After the video ended, the screen went back to the multiple static views of the weapon.

"As you can see," Daniel resumed, "these are quite effective, however they tend to be somewhat inaccurate. We figure they are more of a show of force, to scare enemies as much as to actually kill them. Of course, if you get hit with one, it will kill you."

He clicked the remote, and the screen showed a smaller device, the size of a handgun, but with a somewhat snake-like appearance.

"This is their equivalent of a sidearm. The full name is Zat'nik'a'tel; we just call them zats. It fires a somewhat different energy burst. One hit will completely stun the target, and two hits will kill."

Mike asked, "So it's the fancy alien version of a taser?"

Daniel chuckled slightly. "Perhaps, if you took a taser, turbocharged it, and put it on steroids. I've been hit with these on more occasions than I can count, it is not fun. To answer your next question before you ask it, multiple hits over a long time do not kill; it is multiple hits while the charge is still affecting your body that matters. If you get hit again after that charge has dissipated, you just get stunned again."

Sarah looked from Mike to Daniel and asked, "So this kind of thing sounds handy for capturing someone alive, which is what you want us to do with the clones, correct?"

Daniel smiled that she seemed to be quite quick on the uptake. "That's right, and your team will be loaned a few zats for your missions. Before we do, you will need a brief training session." He looked from their guests to Landry, who nodded his approval. Daniel then gestured to the door. "If you will follow me, we will take you to the armory for a little show and tell."

Mike clapped his hands and rubbed them together, smiling. "All right, alien ray gun 101, sounds like fun!"

Sarah smirked over at him, then got up to follow. Landry watched them leave and chuckled slightly to himself.

* * *

><p><em>AN: This story has not been abandoned! I am updating more frequently, it is now part of my NaNoWriMo project.  
><em>


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Mike stood in a shooter's stance, his face calm, aiming at his target with the calculating precision of a trained sniper. He pressed the trigger, bracing mentally for the sound of the shot, and the recoil. However instead of the usual explosive report of a gun, there was the electrical whine of this strange alien zat gun he was learning.

The weapon discharged a precise lightning bolt type strike to the standard silhouette target, which was swirling with electrical energy after the hit. He fired again, and the energy hit the target, this time the target was blasted apart, as if hit by a cannon shot.

Mike put the weapon down on the shelf in front of him, and removed his safety goggles and hearing protection. "Wow, that little thing kicks some butt. I like it!" He smiled, and stepped away from the shooting line, gesturing to Sarah. "Your turn."

Sarah laughed a bit, then forced herself to a more serious posture, as she approached the shooting line, pulled her safety gear back on, and picked up the weapon, feeling the weight in her hands.

"This weighs pretty close to a Beretta 92. Interesting isn't it?" She smiled slightly, took aim, and fired two shots in rapid succession at the next target, completely destroying it.

Daniel smiled at Mike, and Mike was looking at Sarah with a half-smirk.

Mike chuckled slightly and said, "OK now you're just showing off."

Sarah put the zat down on the table with a bigger grin and turned around to look at Daniel.

"So Daniel, any chance we get trained on those staff weapons too?"

Daniel looked towards the door, which lead back to the main sections of the base, tapping a pencil on his clipboard. "Well, General Landry didn't specify any training on the staff weapons, but he didn't specifically say no training on them either." He tapped his pencil some more.

Mike crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked from Daniel, to Sarah, and to the door. He then uncrossed his arms, and went to the weapons locker. "Sounds good enough to me. Let's get to more shooting, hmm?" He smiled big, as he took a staff weapon out of the locker, and carefully held it out in front of him, bringing it over to Daniel so he could show them its controls.

Daniel showed them how to aim with a staff, since it is not as intuitive as a regular pistol or rifle, and where its controls are located. "Always remember to open the arrowhead before firing, if you don't the results are, well let's just say they aren't pretty." He showed the control to open the arrowhead at the top, which separates the four petal like sections slightly, and exposes the energy emitter. He then handed the staff back to Mike, who took position on the firing line.

He took aim on a fresh heavier grade target, and fired an energy burst, which flashed down the length of the shooting range rather quickly, and burned out a very large hole in the steel plate backed target.

"Wow! Now this thing is nuts!" Mike said, grinning wildly, and handed the staff to Sarah for a practice shot.

Sarah carefully took the staff, testing the weight of it, and the balance. She looked over the controls, and positioned her hands correctly. She tested the arrowhead opening and closing controls, making sure it was opened again, before taking aim at the next target. She fired three blasts in quick succession, making a slightly larger hole in the target, as all three hits were tightly clustered together.

She hit the control to close the arrowhead, and handed the staff to Daniel.

"Impressive. I wonder though, how far off we are from making stuff like this… perhaps best not to think about it."

Daniel took the staff, and regarded the targets.

"Nice grouping there. Are you sure you haven't fired alien energy weapons before today?" he said, with a bit of a smirk.

Sarah smiled at Mike, then at Daniel.

"Not that I know of, at least" she said with a small chuckle.

Daniel smiled back.

"Well then, I can certify you for field use of both the zats and the staff weapons, though at this time we are only going to loan you zats. From what I understand our techs are already in contact with your techs, to see if we can install one or two of them on your vehicle. We will also be issuing you some secure comm equipment so you can keep us informed of your progress, and in case you need it, request backup. That about does it for here, shall we return to the General's office then?"

He gestured to the door.

Sarah and Mike returned the safety gear to the proper spots, and followed Daniel back to General Landry's office.

General Landry was waiting for them in his office, with yet more paperwork for them to fill out.

He gestured to the desk with several more file folders.

"Here is the paperwork we need you to fill out for this mission. This will include your invoice information so we can pay you, equipment loan documents, contractor protocols for working with the SGC, and so on. Once all this is done we will issue your equipment."

He pulled out another much larger file folder, and put it on the desk.

"This, is a general psychological profile on Ba'al, since his clones will be essentially the same. Also all the intel we have so far on the operations in California and Oregon. From what we have gathered, these two clones do not have ships, and we didn't see any Jaffa, at least not out in the open wearing their standard armor and weapons. One or both of them may still have a contingent of Jaffa warriors going incognito. Be on the lookout for them."

Sarah and Mike sat down in the chairs facing the General's desk, and filled out the forms, then Sarah took the large folder with the profile information. Once they finished, Landry collected the forms, and shook each of their hands.

"Walter will be here shortly to take you to the armory. Let me just say again we are grateful for your help in apprehending these Ba'al clones. If you get in a tight spot do not hesitate to call us for backup. We would much prefer to wait until an SG team can get to you, than have your team rush in and get killed, or worse taken as hosts for Goa'uld. Be careful out there, and good luck."

Mike smiled after shaking the General's hand.

"Thank you General. We won't let you down."

Sarah smiled as well.

"Quite right General. We will contact you once we are in position near the first target."

Sarah and Mike didn't have long to wait, Sgt. Harriman came in the door just after they finished shaking the General's hand.

"Sarah, Mike, if you will follow me, we will get you all setup for the mission."

He led them out of the office, down several halls and passages, to a non-descript looking door

that looked almost identical to all the others along the hall, with the exception of the label by the door that read "ARMORY".

He led them into the room, and pulled out three holstered sidearms.

"Three Zats, the third one we understand will be fitted on your AI vehicle."

Mike took them, and smiled.

"I think KITT will have some fun with this when we get home."

Sgt. Harriman then took out 2 hand-held radios with their earpieces and holsters.

"These are set to our secured frequencies, if you need help don't hesitate to holler."

Mike took the equipment and put it all in a satchel case.

"Thank you, Walter, we won't."

Sgt. Harriman checked the list on his clipboard to make sure they had all they needed.

"Oh and one other thing, for the purposes of communication while you are in the field, your radio designation will be SG-27. We only have 25 actual SG teams, the rest are used for outside help such as yourselves. I know General Landry probably said this already, but I'll add mine in for what it is worth: good luck."

"Thanks Walter," Mike said with a smile.

Sgt. Harriman then guided them through the labyrinthine corridors to the exit, where Cpl. Anderson was waiting with the vehicle to take them back to the airport.


End file.
